Man who found Montclair shooting victim recalls heartbreaking final moments

By Dan Prochilo

Staff Writer |

The Montclair Times

"Don't go out on me, Ib!"

Maurise Griffith stands before the memorial to Ibn Futrell on Mission Street, steps away from where he found Futrell lying on the sidewalk on Tuesday night.

That was Maurise Griffith's desperate plea Tuesday night as he upheld, in one hand, the head of his friend, Ibn Futrell, while an unresponsive Futrell lay on the sidewalk along Mission Street, dying of gunshot wounds.

Yesterday as he visited a memorial the neighborhood had set up for Futrell outside the Mission Mini Market, a tearful and indignant Griffith told The Times that he found the victim alone and barely clinging to life after Tuesday night's 8:59 p.m. shooting, during which witnesses said they heard six or seven gunshots.

Griffith's telling of the story seems to clash with an account given by resident Carol Wineglass last night during a 4th Ward community meeting at Montclair Fire Headquarters on Pine Street, a meeting convened to discuss violence and crime prevention.

Wineglass said she led police to the victim after officers didn't see Futrell, possibly due to poor street lighting in the area.

Griffith said that, not long before Tuesday night took a terrible turn, he was inside his house on Mission Street, re-watching on his iPhone footage of the New York Giants in their locker room, celebrating Sunday night's Super Bowl victory.

Suddenly his mother and sister came running downstairs, and he took a headphone out of one ear to ask what was going on.

"You didn't hear those shots?" they asked.

Shirtless, Griffith went out into the cold and looked down the street, toward Bloomfield Avenue, where he saw flashing lights and parked police cars.

Figuring that, had there been a shooting, the gunman would be fleeing from the police, Griffith got on his bicycle and rode away from the police activity, heading southbound on Mission Street.

He made a left on Elmwood Avenue, then another left on Maple Avenue, working his way around the block and searching for the suspect.

He came full circle, going up Bloomfield Avenue and back to Mission Street. That's when he saw Futrell, lying almost right outside the door of the closed Mini Market, near the corner of Bloomfield Avenue.

Griffith tried talking to his friend, pleading with him to hang on.

"He was going out. He couldn't communicate with me," Griffith said. "I called his name. I slapped his cheeks a few times. His eyes were slowly drifting left and right."

Griffith tried giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but gargling sounds emanated from the victim's throat and there was blood coating his teeth.

"Somebody (expletive) get down here and call the ambulance!" Griffith started screaming, prompting the police officers on scene, who had run south along Mission Street, to turn around and run back north, where the victim had been shot, Griffith said.

Once they arrived and while they waited for EMTs, officers unzipped the victim's jacket, trying to assess his injuries, the witness said.

Futrell was later transported by ambulance to Mountainside Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:57 p.m., about an hour after the shooting was reported, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Griffith is angry that Futrell did not receive medical attention sooner.

"When I am riding around the corner, police over there checking by Glenfield (Park), shining lights, when my man sitting right here," Griffith said. "And when I come over here ain't nobody over here with him. He's sitting here, dying.

"It took too long," the witness said. "I came outside late as h-l. They didn't see my man right here."

Law enforcement officials could not be immediately reached in the hours before this posting to corroborate or dispute Griffith's version of events.

Witnesses who refused to give their names told The Times that on the night of the shooting, people were scattering from the crime scene and running for cover.

One man said that two men who were shouting, "He's trying to kill us!" came sprinting down the driveway that runs along the south side of the Mini Market and tried scaling a fence to get away. They failed to clear that fence and backtracked toward Mission Street, then crossed the large empty lot between Mission and New streets, facing Bloomfield Avenue.

After the incident, in addition to the spot where the body was found, police roped off at least two other areas to the south along Mission Street with crime-scene tape. It is unclear what occurred in those two locations or what evidence was found there.

Police are releasing few details about what happened that night since they are conducting an active, ongoing investigation into the shooting and divulging information to the press could compromise their case, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities have not publicly identified any suspects.

According to Griffith, Futrell wasn't an antagonist and no one had made any recent threats against the victim.

"He was always to himself. He wasn't bothering nobody. He wasn't no super-tough guy," Griffith said. "He was just trying to drink his beer and live his life."

Man who found Montclair shooting victim recalls heartbreaking final moments

Maurise Griffith stands before the memorial to Ibn Futrell on Mission Street, steps away from where he found Futrell lying on the sidewalk on Tuesday night.

That was Maurise Griffith's desperate plea Tuesday night as he upheld, in one hand, the head of his friend, Ibn Futrell, while an unresponsive Futrell lay on the sidewalk along Mission Street, dying of gunshot wounds.

Yesterday as he visited a memorial the neighborhood had set up for Futrell outside the Mission Mini Market, a tearful and indignant Griffith told The Times that he found the victim alone and barely clinging to life after Tuesday night's 8:59 p.m. shooting, during which witnesses said they heard six or seven gunshots.

Griffith's telling of the story seems to clash with an account given by resident Carol Wineglass last night during a 4th Ward community meeting at Montclair Fire Headquarters on Pine Street, a meeting convened to discuss violence and crime prevention.

Wineglass said she led police to the victim after officers didn't see Futrell, possibly due to poor street lighting in the area.

Griffith said that, not long before Tuesday night took a terrible turn, he was inside his house on Mission Street, re-watching on his iPhone footage of the New York Giants in their locker room, celebrating Sunday night's Super Bowl victory.

Suddenly his mother and sister came running downstairs, and he took a headphone out of one ear to ask what was going on.

"You didn't hear those shots?" they asked.

Shirtless, Griffith went out into the cold and looked down the street, toward Bloomfield Avenue, where he saw flashing lights and parked police cars.

Figuring that, had there been a shooting, the gunman would be fleeing from the police, Griffith got on his bicycle and rode away from the police activity, heading southbound on Mission Street.

He made a left on Elmwood Avenue, then another left on Maple Avenue, working his way around the block and searching for the suspect.

He came full circle, going up Bloomfield Avenue and back to Mission Street. That's when he saw Futrell, lying almost right outside the door of the closed Mini Market, near the corner of Bloomfield Avenue.

Griffith tried talking to his friend, pleading with him to hang on.

"He was going out. He couldn't communicate with me," Griffith said. "I called his name. I slapped his cheeks a few times. His eyes were slowly drifting left and right."

Griffith tried giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but gargling sounds emanated from the victim's throat and there was blood coating his teeth.

"Somebody (expletive) get down here and call the ambulance!" Griffith started screaming, prompting the police officers on scene, who had run south along Mission Street, to turn around and run back north, where the victim had been shot, Griffith said.

Once they arrived and while they waited for EMTs, officers unzipped the victim's jacket, trying to assess his injuries, the witness said.

Futrell was later transported by ambulance to Mountainside Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:57 p.m., about an hour after the shooting was reported, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Griffith is angry that Futrell did not receive medical attention sooner.

"When I am riding around the corner, police over there checking by Glenfield (Park), shining lights, when my man sitting right here," Griffith said. "And when I come over here ain't nobody over here with him. He's sitting here, dying.

"It took too long," the witness said. "I came outside late as h-l. They didn't see my man right here."